Hi!
I’ve been very fortunate to be accepted to Duke, Dartmouth, WUSTL, USC, UNC- Chapel Hill as a Chacellor’s Science Scholar and UT Plan 2 Honors program. But, I’m having a hard time choosing which school to go to. I’m planning on going into pre-med but I’m aware that may change so I’m looking for a school that’s good all around. Location isn’t that big of a factor for me. I’m looking for a place that’s collaborative and full of opportunities. I haven’t received final financial aid packets from WUSTL,Duke, USC and UNC Chapel Hill yet due to late forms but my COA for Dartmouth is around 17,000.
Thanks again!
Hard to recommend without net costs. It is a long journey, don’t overspend on the first leg…
I agree completely. Net cost is crucial to the decision. My daughter faced similar choices, but after visiting schools, she quickly eliminated most from contention. She is now a sophomore at USC and loves it. She is very thankful that she made the decision to travel from FL to USC. The opportunities at USC and within the greater LA area are almost endless. The USC alumni network is also amazing. To me personally, I would have only encouraged my daughter to potentially consider Stanford, Yale, Princeton and Brown over USC. My younger daughter, now a HS junior, has already decided that USC is her first choice. And I am very thankful regarding her decision. As a parent, my impression of USC has only grown over the last two years. They are excellent at all of the things that are important to parents… from communication to financial aid to all of their various online portals related to registration, assistance, tracking, housing, etc. They are just quite simply a well-funded and well-oiled machine. USC has mastered the college experience, in my opinion, including everything related to the exchange of information. My final suggestion would be to look at the survey details provided by students themselves comparing the two colleges at https://colleges.niche.com/rankings/best-colleges/ I have found their rankings and parameters to be far more useful than other college ranking services. Good luck with your decision…
Just as an Financial aid update:
Dartmouth: ~17,000
Duke: ~ 26,000 (w/ 2 loans)
UNC Chapel Hill: ~11,000 w/ the Chancelor’s Science Scholarship
UT: ~$25,000
UTD: Free if I live at home
I still don’t know about WashU and USC but my dad really doesn’t want me to go to USC so I think it’s going to be eliminated off my list :(. I’m also leaning towards getting rid of Duke too. Also, just to clarify, I’m not 100% sure of being premed and the other field I’m considering is more humanities/ social sciences which is why I’m hesitant of going to UTD.
Will Duke match Dartmouth offer?
How big and what kind of loans are you talking about for Duke?
From your remaining choices, I’d pick UNC (had a relative who went there with a fantastic scholarship and had a superb time) and then Dartmouth.
What is the COA at USC and why is your dad opposed? It’s a very good school and its reputation continues to rise.
Definitely talk to Duke’s financial aid office. They may be inclined to match Dartmouth’s offer.
The Duke loans amount is around 2,000 dollars and federal loans are 3,500. I’m not sure if Duke will match Dartmouth but, when I visited I heard that people were appealing their financial aid decisions, so I may give it a try. I was originally torn between Duke and Dartmouth, but after visiting Duke and kind of having a bad experience I started to lean towards Dartmouth more. I love the community/undergraduate focus at Dartmouth but I’m a little worried about the fact that it is kinda hard to get there and my parents would really prefer for me to go to Duke. Also, I’m going to visit UNC-Chapel Hill but the only reservation I have is the scholarship I have right now is geared toward those getting a PhD or MD/PhD and I don’t know if I’m going down that path. Without that scholarship, UNC costs like 20,000.
For USC, my dad doesn’t like that it’s in California and my parents didn’t fill out all the forms on time so we haven’t gotten our COA.
Dartmouth and Duke are peers but are very different. Dartmouth is rural and is known for its undergraduate focus. Duke is bigger, urban/suburban, and has fairly successful D1 sports. Duke is a lot like Stanford. Dartmouth is a lot like a very high-quality LAC like Williams or Middlebury (with the addition of some very good grad programs), but with the Ivy cachet. Both schools offer a great path to Wall Street jobs, should that become a goal.
But honestly, all of these schools are very good. Fit and finances are very important.
^ Great post.
Yes, they are peers. However, Duke does exponentially more research and as such research opportunities will be easier to come by at Duke. Since the OP is pre-med, I wouldn’t discount the importance of undergraduate research.
I checked on Duke’s website and they said they don’t match with other schools. Should I still try? Also, does anybody know about the social/academic atmospheres at these schools? Like are some of them cutthroat/ super competitive?
I would only try if you would attend Duke if it matched the Dartmouth offer. Is that the case?
I really don’t know and am super conflicted at this moment. Before the whole college process began, Duke was my dream school. But, after going to an admitted students program and having a pretty bad experience, I started to compare it to Dartmouth which I visited in the Summer in 2015. At Dartmouth, I had a pretty great time and the people there were great. I really don’t want to base my decision on one visit but I don’t think I can visit both schools again.
Academics aside:
Would you prefer to live for 4 years in a cold rural area or be in a Warner suburban area alongside UNC and NC State with a lot of school spirit?
Try Duke.
Otherwise, it’s between UNC (but if the scholarship disappears, the incentive also does, and it sounds like you’re very undecided) and Dartmouth (are you looking forward to joining Greek life?)
Is Greek life at Duke not intense? Because when I visited for Duke BSAI that was all that was focused on socially and they took us to frat parties which were a major turn off for me.
Duke and Dartmouth both are heavily Greek (even more so at Dartmouth).
Just another update:
WashU’s cost of attendance would be around 13,000 and Dartmouth agreed to match that if I fill out the paper work. However, Duke refuses to match aid, so it’ll still cost ~26,000 w/ loans.
Dartmouth. You liked it there. They money if very good too. And you liked it there.
Sounds like Dartmouth it is.